Georgia. In 1976, after a period of only four years, the Supreme Court reversed its early decision, 1976 Greg vs. Georgia, made in 1972 saying that because the states had made the necessary reforms, "The punishment of death does not invariably violate the Constitution." The Supreme Court's decision, which stands on capital punishment, has not changed since 1976. However, in recent years there has been an increase in support for those who are opposed to capital punishment. The reasons for this increase range is from arguments made by groups like the ACLU which say that capital punishment is concentrated on the poor, on minorities, and even on where the accused lives, to the risk involved with executing an innocent man or woman. Although those who are in support of capital punishment may not voice their opinions as loudly as the activist like anti death penalty supporters, those who are for capital punishment are just as firm in their belief as those on the other side of the argument. Those who justify the death penalty do so by claiming that it saves the state money, acts as a deterrent from committing violent criminal acts, or that it satisfies the adage of an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth form of justice. .
Despite the fact that the two groups" claims are so different, the source of their arguments is where I find my claim. Both groups draw from issues that lie at the center of our society. There are ideas that the federal government should be more involved in matters of the individual states, an idea that the ACLU supports due to the court decision made in 1976. There are religious beliefs that tell the biblical story of the execution and resurrection of Jesus. And there is the earlier example of the legal issue of how much power the people and the courts should be allowed to have, which also leads into another topic of the effects of new technology, like DNA testing, that can either overturn an early ruling of guilt or at the same time increase the effectiveness of a prosecutions case against the accused.